Archives for August 2008

As your political Mouse, I viewed the Obama-rama tonight with my little rodent mind wide open, my little rodent nose twitching alertly, and my little rodent whiskers at attention. I had no expectations other than it would be a gigantic spectacle. What I got was a gigantic spectacle with a well rehearsed and delivered, inspirational speech replete with some McCain put-downs that will come back to haunt Obama, as well as a standard litany of empty liberal promises.

I have no doubts that the inspirational and well delivered aspects of the speech will cause a bounce in the polls. At this stage the polls mean nothing but I still want to give credit where credit is due. The speech was good. Not great, just good. However, Thursday night speeches at presidential nominating conventions are always inspirational and well delivered. We expect it, so it should come as no great surprise that we get it.

Completely to Obama’s credit, this was a truly historic occasion, a momentous one in this country’s history. Not a single politician in today’s political arena could have filled that stadium—not George W. Bush, not John McCain, not John Kerry (snicker), not Al Gore (chortle) and neither Sheryl Crow nor Michael McDonald. Only Obama, the Pope, and the Rolling Stones could have brought 85,000 people to Invesco Field. That is pretty impressive.

What Obama attempted to do with his well-rehearsed speech and his meticulous TelePrompter assisted delivery was to preach to the common man (or woman, already), the workers. Those are the votes he is after. Undoubtedly, he has been coached to move more toward the center to attract more votes than he could by maintaining his hard-line liberal (#1 most liberal voting record in the senate) posture. What he seemed to try hardest to do was to convince the voters with his bio film and his speech that he was a common man—one of them—not an elitist who doesn’t connect with the working man, the hunters with deer rifles, and other assorted little people he has offended in his primary machinations. Very clearly, much of the speech was an attempt to regain their confidence. We kept hearing about the workers. (Has a Communist Party ring to it, but I digress.) He said he is not a celebrity and that the whole thing was about them, not him.

Another large portion of the speech was directed at the current administration’s failures, from which he extrapolated John McCain’s ultimate failures along the same lines. His handlers seem to be hanging their hats on McCain voting 90% with President Bush. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have a ten percent chance of change,” Obama said. Numbers like that are meaningless, if you make yourself aware that most of the bills that are voted on in Congress are not associated with partisan issues. For example, a bill honoring the New York Giants for winning the Super Bowl would get an all but unanimous vote. Let’s look at Obama’s record in the same context. Even the most liberal voting member of congress would have voted “with President Bush” on a substantial number of bills. Of course, the 90% thing, associated with an unpopular president, makes McCain sound like a Bush clone. He isn’t. But Obama had to say it, because his programmers want him to, and because the Bush 3 accusation is one of his campaign’s linchpins.

Another big indictment of McCain was that he believes in supporting big business and “trickle-down” to the masses. (The workers.) Obama said that what this translates to is you’re on your own. In this Mouse’s mind, that is a good thing. As an individual, you determine whether you succeed or fail. “Government” should not be supplying safety nets, which in this Mouse’s mind translate to disincentives to productivity. So, this particular bit of ideologically based McCain bashing is just campaign rhetoric. Yeah, Barack. We know that Democrats are the populists who are the great saviors (and vote buyers) of the people. We get it. No need to rub it in, unless you’re campaigning for the idiot vote.

Obama paid lip service to reaching across the aisle and uniting America. How? He’s never done that as a U.S. Senator. So, it’s just talk. McCain has actually done it (viz. McCain-Finegold and McCain-Kennedy). Will Obama actually eliminate partisanship with his naïve “New Politics for a New Time?” If he, himself has never reached across the aisle in his brief career as a senator, why should we believe that he will do so as president?

Obama bashed McCain for “wanting to continue [the] misguided war” in Iraq, and claimed credit for wanting the troops out of Iraq. This rhetoric seemed rather feeble, almost preposterous, as the truth of the matter is that the Iraqis have now proposed a timetable for our withdrawal by 2011. In other words, the surge that Obama failed to support worked. Iraq would have gone completely to hell and many more of our servicemen would have been maimed or killed there without that surge Obama did not support. That the war was “misguided” is immaterial in the context of how to best proceed from this juncture. The fact that the Iraqis and the Bush Administration have worked out a withdrawal by 2011 has clearly taken the wind out of the Obama sails and his handlers don’t like it one bit. It is pretty hard to spin this area believably, so they’re really pushing it. They’re promising what has already been decided.

That’s the problem with Thursday night acceptance speeches. They’re generically big on promises and short on solutions. Obama told us what he would do in many different spheres, but mostly the same old liberal laundry list. To say that the objectives were pie in the sky would be generous. For example, he promised to end our dependence on Middle Eastern oil in 10 years. Pretty tall order. First of all, even if he manages to get himself elected, he will not be in office in 10 years, but that’s beside the point. How? That’s the big question. Is it even possible? This Mouse thinks that in this promise, Obama was trying to duplicate the can-do spirit of John F. Kennedy’s promise to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. That it was 10 years from January 1961 to the end of the decade suggests that Obama believes the Kennedy time horizon will work for eliminating dependence on Middle Eastern oil, too, and that it will inspire the development of a cohesive program to get there. Maybe that is possible, but unlike a space program that the entire country could get behind as a matter of pride, there are too many special interests in today’s complex society to expect that the same thing could occur in providing renewable energy. Environmentalists alone will throw the monkey wrench into any plan for drilling for oil or for building nuclear power plants. How long does it take to plan and build a nuclear power plant, given the plethora of red tape involved? Can Obama accelerate that timeline? How?

That’s the big question for the night: How? (Does this sound like a Lockheed-Martin commercial?)

Further itemization of clearly enunciated campaign promises without any elaboration of “the how” followed. Here is the laundry list:

We will create a new tax code that rewards those who create jobs, not the people who wrote it – a tax cut for 95% of the people

In 10 years we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East

We will provide every child a world class education

We will provide affordable health care for every single American

We will provide more sick days and family leave

We will change bankruptcy laws so pensions protected

We will change Social Security so benefits are protected

We will implement equal Pay for equal days work

And, of course, to placate the working men of Pennsylvania who are also inveterate hunters, we will abide by the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which gives us the right to bear arms, without putting AK47’s in the hands of terrorists and criminals. (I’m glad he disassociated those two nefarious classes of humanity, or lack of same.)

Again, the foremost question is: How?

Well, Obama had an answer, at least for the funding how. He would eliminate tax preferences for those doggone greedy corporations who already make enough money and he would go through the federal budget line by line in order to eliminate “programs that don’t work.” Oh, yeah? How is he going to determine what works and what doesn’t work. Any ideas which programs we’re talking about here? We can’t figure out the how without knowing the what. Furthermore, this recycled Carter campaign promise is completely unrealistic in view of the way congress works against any contraction of government—particularly Democrat run congresses. Jimmy tried, but he was frustrated, winding up defensively making a public speech with a huge flow chart that demonstrated the steps necessary to fire a civil servant. It was beyond his capabilities to eliminate even a single civil servant, let alone entire bureaucratic departments. What makes Obama think he can succeed in doing so? Answer: He knows he can’t, but he doesn’t think we know he knows. You know?

At the conclusion, he dragged out the speech by invoking that famous Republican civil rights crusader, the late Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who 45 years ago this day marched on Washington with his dream. With his voice quavering à la King, Obama referred to “the preacher” and what he said in Washington. He then took a page from JFK’s 1960 Los Angeles acceptance speech when he quoted scriptures. (JFK referred to the prophet Isaiah; Obama just went with the generic scriptures.) He finished off with God bless you all and God bless the United States of America. Again, with the preacher voice. Very dramatic, rousing, and probably effective. But will it offend the atheistic component of his constituency?

This was an inspirational speech, but the content was recycled Democrat promises we’ve been hearing for the past 20 years. This is change? I think not. A package of tired old political promises wrapped in shiny new paper with a great big bow does not signify change. It’s business as usual in a pretty package. None of those promises ever seem to come to fruition, even if those who enunciate them actually get themselves elected. I wonder why.

This Mouse knows that there will be a nice bounce in the polls due to Obama’s speech, but that the Thursday night euphoria will not last very long. It’s kind of like a one-night stand. When the afterglow fades, one tends to ask, “What the hell am I doing here?” Sooner or later, people will ask, “How?” and similarly wonder what they’re doing in one camp or the other. They will need much more than vacuous acceptance speeches to formulate their voting direction, no matter how inspired they are by the flashy rhetoric. The real answers will come out during the three scheduled debates between McCain and Obama. These broadcast public appearances will probably determine who wins the forthcoming election. Not that tonight’s speech or next Thursday night’s should be considered wasted by any means—they’re great marketing tools and they nicely set up the campaign path ahead, but between now and the debates, realistic and believable answers for these “how?” questions will have to be generated by each candidate’s organization.

To be honest, a couple of completely unrelated things could screw the Republicans at this point, once the euphoria fades. One is Tropical Storm Gustav, which may or may not hit New Orleans, but will certainly energize the full efforts of Democrat attack dogs to bring back old, nasty memories and make it clear that Bush and the Republicans screwed up New Orleans in Katrina (with no mention, of course, of the then extant Democrat Mayor, an idiot, and the Democrat Governor, an idiotess). So, that’s one thing, especially since the current Louisiana governor is one of the GOP’s bright, shining hopes.

The other is McCain’s vice presidential selection, which is imminent. The candidate will be announced Friday noon, in Dayton. At the time this Mouse is writing this, it is known that Mitt Romney will be in Dayton, but Mike Huckabee will not. This does not mean that Romney is the selection; it just means that he is still a possibility. The perception of the vice presidential candidate by the voters can either make or break the McCain campaign.

Now that the lights are out, this Mouse is going to sneak into the kitchen and feed his furry face. I’ll write more from under the sofa tomorrow.

What is a mouse to do? The Nittany Turkey is watching the DNC on Fox News, so I have no choice but to endure some of the antics of the Fox commentators. Mind you, I enjoy many, if not most, of them. But one in particular, Sean Hannity, gets on my nerves. This is for you, Sean Hannity.

Your repetition of stupid rhetorical ploys grates on my furry little rodent ass. You have done it for years on your radio program and you’re doing it now in your convention coverage. When you repeatedly ask Democrats why Obama won’t talk about raising taxes, why Obama won’t talk about opposing the surge in Iraq, and why Obama won’t talk about having called Iran a small nation of little consequence to the U.S., I want to throw the Nittany Turkey’s stupid mousetrap right at the screen. But I can’t lest I be detected and snared by the foul fowl.

Doyou think you interviewees and his audience are all rodent brains? Your favorite Mus musculus is insulted by this sophomoric drivel. What is Obama going to do? Blow his campaign by exposing his flaws? Would you ask a corporate CEO to conduct an advertising campaign stating that he raised prices, fired a whole slew of employees, and got a bunch of tax breaks through nefarious lobbying? That company wouldn’t sell rodent turd with an ad like that. Furthermore, you wouldn’t ask the CEO that question.

Listen, Mr. Hannity. This is a mere mouse brain coming at you from under The Nittany Turkey’s sofa. This acceptance speech is all about advertising Obama’s wares, and he’s not—repeat, NOT—going to mention, let alone emphasize, his missteps and misstatements. And we, as your audience, don’t think it is cute to keep harping on the notion that Obama won’t do it. So, stop this stupid goading.

For the most part, you and I are on the same page. Play hardball, Hannity, but do not underestimate the intelligence of your audience.

I am a mouse with social anxiety disorder, for which I take Xanax. I come out from under the Nittany Turkey’s family room sofa to watch TV when he’s not looking, and the only thing that’s been on that TV of late has been the Democratic National Convention. I’ll share my opinions with you.

First of all, at the beginning of the evening there was a truly unique and moving moment in U.S. history in which the first African-American (a real one, in this case) was nominated by acclamation by his party, a party with some serious racist schisms in its past. (Well, it’s true. That’s why MLK Sr. and MLK Jr. were Republicans.) I remember a similar moment in 1984 when Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman nominated for the office of Vice President. We’re making progress, albeit slowly. Unfortunately, this is the wrong guy for the job, but I digress. Back to the happenings of the evening.

There were quite a few speakers I didn’t bother watching, among them the pompous and forgettable John Kerry. This Mouse would rather see an alley cat with hunger pangs than that haughty schmuck. He had his moment, he failed, and now let’s be done with him, already. He should be accorded the same polite dismissal that was given to Jimmy Carter. Why do the Democrats feel compelled to feature losers like Kerry? You’d think they would have better ideas about which side their bread was buttered on.

The feature event of the evening, of course, was former president William Jefferson Clinton’s address. Now there is a guy who can speak! Say what you will about his character or whatever the hell you airheads always resort to when you can’t think of anything better to nail him with, he could sell ice to Eskimos. He can mock sincerity better than anyone. And lie? That guy can lie so well he can convince himself what he’s saying is true. He came out to the tune of “Don’t Stop Thinking about Tomorrow”, which was his campaign theme song in 1992 and 1996. This time, it wasn’t sung by Fleetwood Mac, the original band that recorded the song. It sounded like it was sung by those backup singers on American Idol. You know, like the Supremes without Diana. Whatever.

Moving right along, Clinton covered the usual pedestrian Democrat subjects, but covered them convincingly and moved his audience. Starting with a five minute standing ovation, he finally hushed the crowd and spoke for a full 20 minutes, double the time allotted to him.

The topic of the night was to have been national security, and Clinton was tasked with conforming to the theme. He ignored those instructions and delivered a typical Slick Willie campaign speech. It was more about his accomplishments than about Obama’s, though. Why? Obama has not accomplished anything. Furthermore, when a Clinton speaks, it is always about the Clintons. However, Clinton was effective in calling for party unity instead of PUMA (Party Unity, My Ass!), a final whine by the dissed Hillary faction. He praised Hillary and promised her 18 million votes to Obama. Whether those votes will actually be delivered is anyone’s guess.

Of course, there was a significant amount of McCain bashing, with the usual distortions and exaggerations about the dire straits the Republican administration has brought us. Interestingly, Clinton mentioned that the Republicans had the White House and the Congress in 2001, which was the start of all this badness, but he didn’t mention that the Democrat controlled Congress elected in 2006 has done next to nothing at all. (Still, I think the combination of a Democrat controlled congress and a Democrat in the White House can only mean that oppressive socialism is right around the corner.) He implicated McCain in all of Bush’s failures, and the failures of congress. It all went over very well with the bunch on the floor.

In all, Clinton’s speech was a rebel rouser, if you’ll excuse the expression, and it is sure to give Obama a bounce in the polls. It might even bring in some of the 18 million Hillary votes. His endorsement, however, doesn’t mean a thing. He only wants to set the stage for another Hillary run at the White House. Nevertheless, his speech will surely work to Obama’s benefit, and it will probably help the Clintons pay their campaign debts, if you know what I mean. That’s this Mouse’s opinion.

Funny thing. I watch these conventions and see the euphoria they create, which distorts people’s ideas about what’s right, what’s wrong, and who is going to win all this stuff. I saw it with the really ridiculous Kerry euphoria in 2004. How could anyone really get excited about Kerry-Edwards? Yet people were all ga-ga after the convention. Problem is, only those of the appropriate mindset who actually watch the convention proceedings feel that way. The voters, quite appropriately, tend to want to reel in many of these euphoric wacko expectations when November rolls around.

Next up on the podium was Joseph Biden, who did his duty to the ticket. Again, as anyone who has observed the senator from Delaware over the years would have expected, Biden was a blow-hard. A lot of the speech was concerned with his experience and accomplishments. Why? Because Obama has no track record and Biden likes to talk about himself. Where Biden was “useful” was in the traditional vice presidential nominee role as attack dog. Only thing is, Biden was not convincing in his excoriation of John McCain, particularly because he contradicted his own heartfelt words about McCain by suddenly questioning McCain’s character. I think the Dems are really worried and have amped up the rhetoric from merely berating the current administration’s policies and predicting more of the same with McCain. Now, they have begun to attack McCain’s judgment. I suppose it is a smokescreen when their own candidate has no track record and no qualifications. However, I am convinced that Biden was being a good attack dog and personally knows better about McCain. He certainly chose not to mention that he and Obama were both wrong, while McCain was right about the surge in Iraq. Of course not. He knows better. So, Biden did not pull off the job of explaining how an Obama-Biden ticket will enhance national security, which, after all, was the theme of the evening.

Biden’s other job was to convince the electorate that the Obama-Biden ticket will have the experience and knowledge to run foreign policy for this country. I think that Biden brought this off for those who chose to listen. However, rarely does a vice president run anything, foreign policy included. So, Biden talking about all his Senate Foreign Relations Committee experiences didn’t move me.

At the end of Biden’s speech, his wife, Jill, came up on stage and told him she had a surprise for him. Of course, the surprise was Obama walking out on stage to great adulation by the lemmings on the floor. Children and grandchildren flooded the podium, and Obama spoke.

Before I get to his well rehearsed speech, it is interesting to note that the two men who stood at center stage, the Democratic ticket for 2008, consist of two senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden, with the the #1 and #3 most liberal voting records in 2007, respectively. By contrast, Hillary Clinton ranked #16 that same year. (Teddy Kennedy, ranked #2, appeared on Monday night.)

Obama’s brief speech gave a clue that the Dems were suddenly concerned about public perception of the planned spectacle at Invesco Field, which, careful to sanitize any reference to corporate America, he referred to as Mile High Stadium, its former generic name. He sounded defensive in explaining that the reason he decide to throw the big to-do at Invesco was because he essentially wanted all the people who ever worked toward his election to be able to participate. The people. My people.

In what? In a self-directed coronation? The Greek columns, the elevated rising stage, and the general hype suggest it. Has any presidential candidate since John Kennedy felt the need for such a massive production? It seems to this Mouse like overkill, like Obama has something to prove. His defense of the venue and the grandiosity only amplifies this feeling in my furry little rodent brain. If Obama wants to be the candidate of the people, he should skip the rock star appearances. They make him look like alternatively like he’s either a megalomaniac or he’s insecure in his current position, which is way the hell over his head, and he’s trying too hard. Is that what we want from a President of the United States?

Let’s face it: if you don’t have the goods, you have to make a good show of it. An end run. Throw up a great smoke screen and the lemmings will march with you right over the damn cliff.

So, tomorrow, we have the spectacle. It won’t feature Charlton Heston, because he’s a Republican. (A little levity there.) This Mouse will be back with a recap of Thursday’s, um, festivities, if my Internet connectivity ever returns. We’ll also have something to say when John McCain announces his choice of vice president.

Friends' Blogs

Whodat Turkey?

The Nittany Turkey is a retired techno-geek who thinks he knows something about Penn State football and everything else in the world. If there's a topic, we have an opinion on it, and you know what "they" say about opinions! Most of what is posted here involves a heavy dose of hip-shooting conjecture, but unlike some other blogs, we don't represent it as fact. Read More…